After nearly 28 years hosting guests I’ve observed things about my fellow American travelers.

We may scale back or postpone or re-think our travel plans, but we’re GOING.

The Economy may be in the toilet. The Automakers may be about to declare bankruptcy

and the Stock Market gyrating like a crack-addled squirrel, but we a taking that trip.

Honeymoons are still happening. Birthdays, the REALLY big birthdays, are still being celebrated.

Anniversaries are continuing to be marked as the milestones of our lives.

Family members, separated by too much absence and distance are putting

their reunions off no longer. In other words, there are too manyIMPORTANT reasons we MUST travel.

After all, what’s more important than LOVE to the honeymooners; perhaps the memories

they are making as they begin their new lives.

How many times will you turn 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70? The answer, each time, is just ONCE.

In our hectic lives what becomes of those love affairs where the flames of romance

are allowed to die for want of the sparks struck on that Anniversary get-away?

Even the best marriage needs to be nurtured.

Even with email, Twitter, Facebook, and the telephone you can’t really know what’s happening

in your loved one’s life without the warmth of a hug.

Sure we’re looking for “the best deal”. We may have to pack out own lunch to survive on today’s peanut’s only airlines.

We’ll be renting the SUB compact this trip. But we’re going.

If we have to stay with friends or, god forbid, relatives to fill the void in our lodging budget,

well we SHOULD be seeing them…been too long…God, they’re looking old!

The truth is if we just stay home, life will pass us by.

TIME travels on with us or without us.

So we just go.

This never ceases to amaze me. Here we are with literally thousands of guests we need to send to restaurants and nearly no one has figured it might be a good idea if we had tried their cuisine.

Believe me, if I could find a source of potential guests to our inn like WE represent to the restaurants we would name future Grandchildren after them!!! We would CERTAINLY host them so they could experience a magical a night at the Beazley House.

So it was with the wonder of a new born duck that we sat down at Neela’s just opened at 975 Clinton (at Main Street) in old town Napa.
We were seated with a couple from the Napa wine industry and the most extraordinary thing happened: we were treated like honored guests. And we were ACTUALLY fed; seemingly almost everything the restaurant offers.

What a concept!

First the Napa Valley Wine Train, now Neela’s, I think restaurateurs are finally getting it.

The courses were as varied as is the contemporary Indian cuisine. Awaiting us on the table was Lentil Pappadums (read firery crackers)  accompanied by Walnut-yogurt, mango & pumpkin-tomato chutneys. An appetizer of endive  beet cups began the meal marathon. Carol was delighted (I don’t eat beets, she got two). Next came deep fried Jhinga Samosas, succulent shrimp turnovers with potatoes & hot mango pickle. Sev Puri, wheat crackers, potatoes, onions contrasting chutneys and a dusting of Sev, crisp chick pea flour noodle followed. All of these were complimented by a lovely local Napa Valley white wine suggested by our newest friends. We bought a Zin also from the Napa Valley. The Haazari, or main presentations came next. Meen Moili, Kerala fish curry with basmati rice, shredded brussel sprouts and lentil pappadums was followed by Makhni Tikka, a chicken dish in a tomato butter sauce with onion naan and “kachumber, “a chopped salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions. Boti Kababs, boneless lamb  tenders marinated with papaya, tomato, yogurt. Then Palak Paneer, pureer spinach and cumin and paneer cubes. Gobi Savzi, cauliflower with ginger, chillis, tomato & coriander, Poriyal, hyderabadi green beens with kari leaves & coconut. All of these delights were joined by Basmati Rise with cumin seeds and garlis and glain naans (the Indian equivalent of Mexican sopapillas.  Desserts finished this perfect meal Mitha, a flourless cayenne and chocolate cake with apricot cream and Gaijar Ka Halwa, a “carrot pudding” with the consistency of shifting sands, but the flavor of a raisins, almonds and cardamon,  and, of course, topped with whipped cream..

The final, final taste was a cup of delicious coffee (decaf). Like the rest of the meal it was heaven.

We WILL be sending our guests to this flavorful trip to India. THEIR experiences will determine whether we were simply enchanted by a culinary angel or whether Neela’s truly is Nirvana.

Napa Valley: A Train runs through it.

When Vincent DeDomenico, inventor of Rice-A-Roni, retired he moved to Napa Valley with a dream.

He would run a vintage train from Napa to St. Helena, take tourists out of their cars, feed ‘em gourmet meals and drive them to the wineries in shuttles. It was a bold plan, green before it’s time and he was sure locals and vintners alike would love it.

He was wrong.

His dream soon turned into a nightmare.

Vintners didn’t see it as a better way to move tourists, but extortion. Track side property owners just saw train noise and thought they would be cut off by unguarded railroad crossings. The entire town of St. Helena greeted the Wine Train as if it was the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

That’s when the lawsuits started, 20 years ago. They are still fighting.

Things have changed. Mr. D and his wife are dead, but the Wine Train is STILL going. Only now with the economy in the tank, St. Helena choked with traffic and merchants starving, suddenly the Wine Train seems like a good idea.

http://www.naparegister.com/articles/2009/05/05/news/local/doc49ffbc3bcb630333889787.txt

And the original plan is working: You can board the train in Napa and have a lovely lunch, passing by vineyards on your way up valley. After lunch you depart the train and are whisked to private tastings at Raymond Vineyards and ZD Wines and return to the station in Napa.

While not cheap at $368, the experience is absolutely unique. Where else in America can you park your car, travel through paradise while eating gourmet fare in a 100 year old Pullman car and drink fabulous wine?

Only in Napa Valley.

The Beazley House has been sending guests on the Wine Train since it began. Lunches cost two people $188 for a three-course feast, including tax, tip and train ride.  Dinners are just $198 for a four-course meal. And while it gets dark by the time you’re back in Napa, there’s nothing as romantic as a gently rolling restaurant bathed in golden light. We constantly hear super reports on the food, the service and the over all experience.

It is a shame that Mr. and Mrs. DiDomenico didn’t live to see it, but some ideas are just too good to die.